Machine for making spiral conveyers



J. L LANE ET AL MACHINE FOR MAKING'S PI RAL CONVEYERS Filed April 1:5, 1928- 3 sheets-Swot 1'- J. L.. LANE ET AL MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRAL CONYEYERS March 2211932.

' FiledApril 1:5, 1928 3 Sheefa-Shot 2 VII/I March 22, 1932. LANE ET 1,850,886

MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRAL CONVEYERS Filed April 1:5, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet s Patented Mar. 22, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES L. LANE, or cnrcaeo, AND ALFRED II. moonn, or OAK PAR I LINO S, as SIGNORS TO LIIQTK-IBELT company, or cIIIqAeo, ILLINOIS, a conrona'rron or ILLINOIS Application iled April 13,

This invention relates to improvements in machines for making spiral conveyers and has for one object to provide a new and improved machine for simultaneously forming the spiral or helical flight from bar or strip stock and as it is formed winding or wrapping'it about the central shaft of the conveyer. Another object is to provide a device wherein the dimensions of the conveyerflight may be accurately controlled and wherein both the inner diameter and outer diameter and-the pitch may be held to close'tolerances. Another obj ct is to provide a device wherein the metal forming rolls may be so assole ciated with the shaft upon which the spiral flight is placedthat the shaft may befed into relation with the helical flight as the flightis formed without interference by the rolls. Other objects will appear from time to time thro1ughoutthe specification and claims.

' The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein- 9 Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section 95 through a machine adapted .to carry out the invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine; f

Figure 3 is a section along the line 3- 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 2;

Fi ure 1; *igure 6 is a section along the line.6- 6 of Figure 5; I y

Figure 7 is "a section along the line 7-7 of Fi ure 6;

' *igure 8 is a Fi ure 5. g I

ike'parts are indicated by like chai'acters throughout the several figures.

A isa supporting frame. In it is mounted for rotation the hollow cylindrical roll A; This roll is supportedat both ends in the frame as indicated and has at one end" acupped or concave working face A A? is a I thrust hearing. The frame Ais associated with an adjustable thrustblock A to prevent o longitudinal movement of the roll.- .A.1s a

F gure 4 is a section along the line 4+4 of vided in connection with a]? stock Once a stock has been passedm throug the section along the line of L is to be worked in ITACHINE FOR MAKING- SI- IItAL CONV EYERS 192s. Serial 11 269,116.

hub mounted on the roll A between its-two bearings in the frame A and this hub. carries I a bevel gear-A B is a generally cylindrical or very slightly tapered roll. Its axis of rotation is at 'right angles to the axis of rotation of the 'roll A and it's cylindrical working faceB is in ormosition to the working face of the roll A the end of the roll being substantially tangential to the inner diameter of the roll A This roll B is located at the end of a drive shaft B mounted for'notation in-the frame A, being supported in bearings at both ends thereof. B is a hub on'the shaft B between said bearings and it carries-a bevel 85 gear B in mesh with the gear A; The shaft B extends upwardly and may be driven b any suitable means not here shown whic drive the shaft E carrying a beveled gear E p in mesh with the bevel gear E on the shaft B E is the sprocket on the shaft E driv ing a chain E which in turn drivesa sprocket E to operate the shaft feeding and rotating mechanism, the driving of this shaft resultin in driving the rolls Al and B in unison.

rojecting l" erally from the frame is a stock guide. T is stock uide takes the form "of a solid or channele pocket C through which a strip ofbar stock (1 may be fed and guided into the space between the opposed. working faces of the rolls. ThlS stock guide is removable, being held in, place by the cap screws C so that different or adjustable guides ma be-provided for diiferenbslzes of conveyer liights. No feedin means are proguide and engages the roll, the tells them-- selves draw in stock at the rate at which It i the manner usualtorollmg mill practice. I I N The flight guide comprises a base-D bolted to the frame A'by means of cap screws. D Fromit projects upwardl the bracket D"; which carries a guide head located 111 front of the-'roll A Associated with the bracket. D is a removable qbracket Dtwhic'hbrac'ket is held on themember D by the capscrews D". D is a guide head on the memberD in opposition to the guidehead D'.. These trio and rotation of the finished flight.

by the set screws G.

In commercial practice spiral conveyers have their spiral flights mounted on pipe or shafts and they are so referred to in the trade. In this specification we refer only to shaft using that in its generic sense as applied to any element whether slotted as a cold rolled shafting or hollow as a pipe which serves as a central supporting shaft about which spiral flights are wound.

Mounted for rotation in the housing E is a pipe feeding shaft F, which shaft carries and is driven by the sprocket E. This shaft carries a pinion F in mesh witha pinion F on the shaft F and both the shafts F and F carry grooved drive heads F F These drive heads engage opposed'sides of the pipe or central shaft about which the spiral flight is to be wound and since the drive is positive through chain and gear from the feeding and flight forming rollers, the relation between the forward movement of the shaft and the feeding out movement of the spiral will be fixed.

On the end of the shaft 1? is a gear G in mesh with a pinion G on the stub shaft G The inner end of the stub shaft carries a mitre gear G in mesh with an annular mitre gear G", which gear has a hub Gr and is mounted for rotation in the boss G. This hub G is hollow to permit the pipe to pass through and is provided with a plurality of tangential ockets G in which travel over-running clutch balls Gr forced inwardly against the pipe by springs Gt whose tension is adjusted The movement of this hub driven as it is by a train of gears from the shaft F is in the directionshown in the arrows in Figure 6 and Figure 7 and rotates the pipe in unison with the rotary feed required to wind the spiral flight about it. *At the-.same time the jaw or grip balls offer no serious resistance to the forward longitudinal movement of the pipe. I l

Thus the spiral conveyer flight is fed out by friction drive and the pipe itself is fed longitudinally and rotated by friction drive. Variousdriving elements are tied together by positive chain and gear train, the only possible slippage being at the drive points themselves and any such slippage will be compensated for in view of the fact that all drives are equalized to giye uniform operation.

parts are so arranged that the inner diameter of the helix grips the. shaft snugly, it is possible to operate the device and assemble the spiral *conveyer without any separate, feed means for the shaft. The engagement of the helical flight with the shaft will as a result of the forward and rotary movement imparted to it' by te rolls draw out and rotate the shaft so that under some conditions the separate feed may be dispensed with.

Also if the drive for the shaft which rotates it and which moves it longitudinally is properly correlated with the speed at which the rolls discharge the flight, it is possible to omit the guide because as soon asthe flight snugly hugs the shaft if the shaft is given the correct movement the engagement of the flight with the shaft will result in properly forming and positioning the flight on the shaft.. However, under ordinary conditions, experience shows that it is best to use both the positive feed for the shaft and the guide for the helical flight. The positive feed is shown diagrammatically at E, taking the form of a sprocket chain which operates the feed mechanism in coordination with the rolls.

The contours of the opposed faces of the rolls are fixed empirically. In general the solid roll is cylindrical or ery slightly conical or tapered.- The hollo.-. or tubular roll is concave and it might be conical but preferably the surface is a curved surface, the radius of curvature of the surface decreasing outwardly. When-these contours are established different thicknesses of metal may be taken care of by changing the distance between the working faces of the rolls and this is done by unscrewing or screwlng in the holding sleeve. The forward movement of the hollow roll is limited by the shoulder as indicated. When the holding sleeve is backed off the hollow roll clears the shoulder but is held in place by the metal squeezed between the two rolls and no separate means are needed for holding it back against the sleeve.

The use and operation of this invention are as follows:

The shaft is fed in through the hollow roll until it normally extends beyond the working faces of the rolls. This may be done either.

by hand or by merely allowing the shaft feeding mechanism when used to operate and this shaft feeding mechanism may be independently driven or driven in unison with the rolls though if independently driven it should be a frictional drive so that slippage may take place to enable the shaft feed and the flight feed'to correspond. The operator then feeds a strip of stock and it may be bar stock in straight lengths or strip stock wound in rolls draw the flat flight forming stock in between their working faces. It will be noted that the distance between the faces decreases outwardly so that the flight as it is formed is thicker for longitudinally feeding a shaft through:

toward the center than toward, the outer: pe-' riphery. This elongates the outer periphery of the flight and causes it to form a general spiral. The spiral flight thus formed is pref-- erably guided through the fixed guides to give it proper pitch. Asthis flight travels out through the guide it is wound about the shaft, the shaft being fed forward and rotated to conform approximately to the rate at which the flight is formed. When a flight of the desired length'has been wound about a shaft, it is only necessary to cut as the stock, stop feed of the flight forming stock, run the shaft on through the machine and cut it off in proper length.

An arrangement such as this makes it possible to keep in stock only long lengths of shaft and flight forming stock. The operator can run the machine until a flight of the right length has been formed, cut off the length of flight, withdraw the shaft and leave the apparatus in readiness forthe next lot. It is not necessary then to form predetermined lengths of flights which must be cut off in lengths to suit,'with the stub ends wasted.

The relation between the forming rolls, the guide and theshaft feeding means are such that the flight is wound upon the shaft in the position'which it is to occupy and no further manipulation or adjustment between the flight and the shaft is needed.

We claim:

1. A machine for making spiral conveyers comprising a hollow roll having an annular working face 0g the end thereof, a roll mounted for rotation on an axis generally perpendicular to, and terminating substantiall in line with the inner periphery of the, ho low roll, and a support therefor out of line with the working face of the hollow roll, means the hollow roll and for rotatin it; v

2. A machine for making spiral conveyers comprising a hollow roll having an annular. working face on the end thereof, a roll mounted for rotation on an axis generally perpendicular to, and terminating substantially in line with the inner periphery of the hollow roll, and a support therefor out of line with the working face of the hollow roll, means for longitudinally feeding a shaft through the hollow roll and forrotating it, in unison with such longitudinal feed.

3. A- machine for-making spiral conveyers comprising a hollow roll having an annular working face on the end thereof, a roll mounted for rotation on an axis generally perpendicular to, and terminating substantially in line with the inner periphery of the hollow roll, and a support therefor out of line with the working face of the hollow roll, means for guiding a strip of material into the space between the working face of the rolls and means for guiding a conveyer flight formed from such strip by the action of the rolls along a spiral path parallel with the axis of the hollow roll, means for feeding a shaft longitudinally through the hollow roll and through the guiding means and rotating the shaft whereby the conveyer flight is wound about the shaft as it is formed.

4:. A machine for making spiral conveyers comprising a hollow cylindrical roll having a working face on the end thereof and adaptv fed through the hollow roll, a guide associated with said rolls and direct it in a spiral path around the shaft and means forrotating a shaft and feeding it longitudinally .through the-hollow roll to permit a formed conveyer flight to be progressively mountedthereabout.

5. A machine for making spiral conveyers comprising a hollow roll having an annular working face on the end thereof, a roll mounted for rotation on an axisgenerally perpendicularto, and terminating substantially in line with the inner periphery of the hollow roll, means for longitudinally feeding a shaft through the hollow roll and for rotating it in unison with such longitudinal feed.

6. A machine for making spiral conveyers comprising a hollow' roll having an annular working face on the end thereof, a roll mounted for rotation on an axis generally perpendicular to, and terminating substantially in line with the inner periphery of the hollow roll, means for guiding a strip of material into the space betweenthe working face of the rolls and means for guiding a conveyer flight formed from such strip by-the action of the rolls along a spiral path parallel with;

the axis of the hollow roll, means forfeeding 'a shaft longitudinally through the hollow roll .and through the guiding means and rotating the shaft whereby the conveyer flight is 'wound about the shaft as it is formed.

7. A machine for making spiral conveyers comprising rolls adapted to form and feed out a continuous spiral flight, a shaft'associated with said rolls about which the flight is wound and fixed, means for feeding the shaft forwardly and rotating it in unison with the feeding out of the spiral flight and a positivev driving connection between the flight feeding and the shaft feeding means.

8. A. machine for making spiral conveyers comprising rollsadapted to form and feed out a continuous spiral flight, a shaft associated with said rolls about which the flight is wound and fixed, means for feeding the shaft forwardly and rotating it in unison with the feeding out of the spiral flight and a positive driving connection between the flight feeding and the shaft feeding means, the shaft feeding means comprising separate means for feeding the shaft longitudinally, separate means'for rotating the shaft and a driving connection between such means.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 24th day of March,

JAMES L. LANE. ALFRED H. MOORE. 

